London's Oldest Meat Market, Smithfield, to Close After 900 Years

READ MORE: Smithfield's 900 years of blood and guts: How traders at London's oldest meat market worked in Dickensian 'filth and mire' for centuriesButchers at Smithfield Market told of their devastation today as City bosses took the decision to close the world's oldest meat market after 900 years at the heart of London life.

There had been plans to relocate the market and Billingsgate to a new £1billion development in Dagenham, east London, but the City of London Corporation put these plans on hold this month and yesterday voted to end them altogether. Mr Howgate said: 'It’s been here for 800 or 900 years, it’s not nice the corporation has said"it’s done’"

'We have always said that five years is a long time in this job and a lot can change. I think they’re saying that in 2028 or 2029 it’s got to go, a lot can happen in that time.' He said: 'The impact to your business is about how you adapt and plan, if you do it well like any business then you’ll be fine, if you stick to your old ways and try to carry on then you’re in for a tough life.

in 1546 during the reign of King Henry VIII, Protestant preacher Anne Askew was burnt at the stake at Smithfield as a huge crowd of people looked on.A meat porter pulls his loaded barrow at Smithfield Market in 1988 Chris Hayward, policy chairman of the City of London Corporation, previously said: 'This decision represents a positive new chapter for Smithfield and Billingsgate markets in that it empowers traders to build a sustainable future in premises that align with their long-term business goals.

However, Ian Wilson, a butcher for 26 years, said the art of the trade is in being able to adapt and if owners are willing to plan then they will do well Author Charles Dickens depicted Smithfield Market in his celebrated novel Oliver Twist. He described it as a place where 'filth and mire' rose 'nearly ankle-deep', as the 'reeking bodies of cattle' massed all around.

Demolishing a tower in Smithfield Market which was unsafe after it had been damaged by a German bomb, 1941 In 1945, as the Second World War neared its conclusion, a German V2 rocket that struck nearby caused an explosion which tore through the market buildings and caused more than 100 deaths. In 1980, King Charles, who was then the Prince of Wales, was cheered and clapped as he tested the weight of a barrow laden with meat

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